The government won't give you a sewerage system but it will blow Rs 100,00,00,000 on a new Collectorate building. And in your village meanwhile the streetlights don't work, the narrow village roads are potholed, you are forced to buy an expensive power inverter because the power supply is as inconsistent as the figures above. Life goes on.

The contract for the colossal new Collectorate building build just outside Margao was tendered in December 2007 at a cost of Rs 73,46,34,449.  It won't be ready till June 2010 as scheduled but in December and the cost has already escalated to Rs 77,50,00,000 which was expected.  In fact, already the next projected cost is Rs 93,00,00,000.  It will soar to Rs 100,00,00,000 perhaps and will surely go down as the most expensive ever built in Goa.  And for what realistic purpose was it built? So that some government clerk can harass you even more as you blunder from one floor to another looking for the chap who just stepped out for his umpteenth cuppa? The government won't give you a sewerage system but it will blow Rs 100,00,00,000 on a new Collectorate building.

Consultancy, the Gold Mine

1)The cost of civil works including plumbing, fire fighting and internal electrical works (at the projected Rs 93,00,00,000 level) is an estimated Rs 73,46,34,449 and the consultancy fee (i.e architectural and project management consultancy) is Rs 4,02,57,968. 2) The external electrical work will cost Rs 2,11,49,474 and the consultancy fee is Rs 11,58,991. 3) The cost of the internal, external and special lighting fixtures is Rs 74,40,000 and strange but true, the consultancy fee is Rs 4,07,712. In other words the consultancy fee for nos. 2 & 3, both electrical jobs, itself works out to Rs 15,66,703. In addition, there already is an unknown (perhaps hidden) consultancy fee for internal electrical works factored into no. 1 (see above).  4) The elevator work will cost Rs 2,77,00,000 and the consultancy fee is Rs 15,17,960.  5) Air-conditioning the complex will cost Rs 1,93,02,803 and the consultancy fee is Rs 10,57,794. 6) The cost of the telephone exchange and UPS will be Rs 1,33,40,845 and believe it or not, the consultancy fee is Rs 7,31,078. 7) The audio visual equipments for the conference room and AV room will cost Rs 44,00,000 and the consultancy fee for this is Rs 2,41,120. 8) The furniture will cost Rs 5,23,29,550 and lo and behold the consultancy fee for this is Rs 28,67,659. 9) There is a miscellaneous cost of Rs 2,32,000 and mercifully, they didn't need a consultant to tell them that. The magic figure at this moment is Rs 92,87,69,403 and the dice is still being rolled.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

You surely have by now begun to understand the current Goa government's compulsive obsession for immense buildings and decided to live with it. But it clearly baffles the mind when in a total cost of Rs 88,05,29,121, the consultancy fee payout is Rs 4,82,40,282 and growing. It's at times like this that even inside-traders in a prison cell must look at each other and say: "We were in the wrong job." Now figure out the maintenance and other support costs of this monolith and notch that up as one more record that will be established by Goa's most expensive building. And in your village meanwhile the streetlights don't work, the narrow village roads are potholed, you are forced to buy an expensive power inverter because the power supply is as inconsistent as the figures above. Life goes on.